So you’re growing a beard and after about two weeks your face is itching like crazy.
Or perhaps you’ve had a beard for some months and suddenly beard itch has struck out of the blue and won’t quit.
What do you do? When does a beard stop itching? When does that itchy beard phase end?
Whatever you do, don’t give in to the temptation to give up! There are reasons why your beard itches …and most importantly, there are solutions close at hand!
For a new beardsman, the itchy beard phase usually kicks in somewhere in the first two weeks or so. The hairs at this stage are still kinda blunt from shaving them abruptly short, while they also aren’t long enough to train the direction they grow. The result is that the stubby ends scrape and tickle the skin to create an infuriating itch.
For a more seasoned beardmeister, the late onset itch is most frequently a sign of needing to change hygiene habits and grooming routine. The cause is usually dryness mixed with accumulated dead skin flakes, dirt and bacteria. Furthermore, if beard hairs aren’t cared for properly - and become coarse and wiry - they can scrape skin flakes off to create a vicious itchy cycle.
With a new beard, somewhere within weeks 2 to 4 your whiskers should soften and the ends and start to taper. They become more manageable, especially with regular cleansing, application of beard oil, and brushing.
With an established beard, you can put beard itch to bed pretty quickly.
If you trim or shave within the first few weeks, you’ll create abrupt, coarse whisker ends that curl back easily and rub against your face. You need to be patient with your beard growth and give them time to soften up.
Okay, let’s get into more solutions to a persistently infuriating itchy beard…
Whether you’re in the stubble phase or you’ve let the grass grow long, you simply must wash off bacteria, dead skin cells and dirt. Your face sheds thousands of skin cells everyday - and the hairs of your beard are little magnets for them. The more there are in your beard, the more they combine with grime, sweat and bacteria right near your skin to create an itchy cocktail.
The solution here is to cleanse. Not with regular soap or shampoo - these products will cause more dryness and flaking, while making your whiskers coarse and wiry. Use a premium beard wash to help balance the moisture content of your skin and help condition and soften those beard hairs.
Dry skin cracks and sheds flakes, causing beardruff that looks like a blizzard to hit your face (and clothes), which makes you scratch like a maniac.
How do you avoid dry skin?
It’s not just your skin that can dry out. Your whiskers themselves can get too dry because your natural sebum oil production isn’t enough to condition them to stay soft and pliable. This can happen with longer beards, especially. And when those longer hairs get dehydrated, they can split and break, which causes them to curl wildly and itch the face. Split hairs can also irritate their follicles.
Beard oil and beard balm are your best friends here, along with drinking plenty of water and eating a nutritious diet. These things will hydrate your skin and hair follicles from beneath, while nourishing your whiskers from above.
Sometimes newly sprouted hairs can curl back towards your face before they’ve reached a ¼-inch in length. Ingrown hairs can be painful but also can be itchy. If this happens, you’ll need some tweezers to set them straight. Then you’ll need to cleanse regularly, apply beard oil, and brush fastidiously.
Really, there are no secrets when it comes to tackling that itchy beard phase. It’s a simple matter of following the steps we’ve mentioned here and being a little patient.
Softness and hydration are your friends. And they must apply to your facial skin as well as your beard hairs. It may seem counter-intuitive, but soft skin and hairs are durable and create that rugged look you crave.
A comfortable, itch-free beard doesn’t just happen by itself. Any respect-worthy beard requires a little TLC and pampering. So arm yourself with the best quality beard grooming products you can find to put beard itch to the sword, once and for all.
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